


Breathe in, Breathe out

by Coal_burningbright



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Child Abuse, Child Death, Cults, F/M, Gaslighting, Gen, Hurt Skye | Daisy Johnson, Kid Skye | Daisy Johnson, Lincoln Campbell Lives, Skye | Daisy Johnson Angst, Skye | Daisy Johnson Feels, Skye | Daisy Johnson Needs a Hug, Skye | Daisy Johnson-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:53:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27549391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coal_burningbright/pseuds/Coal_burningbright
Summary: Skye made the biggest mistake of her life when she was twelve, she decided to find her birth family.
Relationships: Jiaying & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Jiaying & Skye | Daisy Johnson & Cal Zabo, Lincoln Campbell & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Phil Coulson & Melinda May, Phil Coulson & Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Phil Coulson & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Raina (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) & Skye | Daisy Johnson
Comments: 5
Kudos: 38





	Breathe in, Breathe out

**Author's Note:**

> tw for abuse, cults, gaslighting, death of children

I will open the curtain for you my dears and show you this story, I will warn you to be careful venturing in though. Too often readers rush in hungrily, letting the story claw its way into them and make itself at home. This may be wise for stories that end with everyone warm and toasty by the fire, but less so when the fire goes out.

Skye had picked her name herself, one day when she lay looking up at, well, the sky. 

It had been the first thing that was really hers, and for that she loved it.

Now she had many more things that were hers, ever since she had come to live with the Coulson’s.

She had lived with Mel and Phil for the past eight months and it had been the best eight months of her life. She was given new clothes and food and tucked into bed every night. It didn’t even matter to them that she was twelve and therefore too old for such things.

They had even helped her find her birth certificate, it had been scrawled over in black for some reason, but she had managed to make out one name and from there she had searched the entire internet for him. Her father. She’d been searching for her parents since she first learned what parents were, she knew that she should have stopped long ago but she hadn’t been able to bring herself to. It had paid off though, she just felt bad about what it would do to Phil and Mel. Now to tell the people she had come to see as parents about what she had found.

“Phil? Mel? I need to talk,” Skye started. That probably wasn’t the best way to do it but how do you tell people about this? She really did love them, so so much, they had taken her in when she was deemed unloveable and spent months teaching her that they would respect her boundaries and love her unconditionally. 

“Okay, do you want to do it here or in your room?”

“In my room please.”

Once they were settled Skye started working up the courage to say what she needed to. She breathed in, she breathed out. “You guys know I love you so, so, so much. Right?”

“Of course.” Phil beamed at her. “We love you too.”

“Well, I really love you guys but um, I found my birth dad.” There. It was out. “He was a doctor at Doctors without Borders and now he works in a little community giving free healthcare. He seems really nice, and I want to reach out to him. I found him by all the searching I was doing, and he’s been searching for me too, I really want to just call him?”

“Of course sweetie, he’s your birth dad it’s natural to want to reach out. Maybe call with all of us on the phone?” Phil hid his nerves well. He and his wife loved the girl they’d come to think of as a daughter, but they couldn’t fault her for wanting to be with her birth dad.

That was how it started. Cal (he’d told Skye she could call him dad or Cal and as much as she wanted to say dad, it was too hard) had been overjoyed to talk to her for the first time in over ten years.

They had been talking for a few weeks when he proposed he could fly over and see them, from there plans had been made and now Skye was bidding the Coulson’s goodbye as she went with her dad. Phil and Mel had been really nice about giving him custody, and she had loved them; she just wanted to be with her dad. She had promised to call them every couple of days though, she didn’t want to ever lose them. She took a deep breath and exhaled.

“So, where are we going Cal?”

“You know how I said I was in contact with your mom?”

“Yes, are we going to meet her?”

“Yup! Got it in one, Daisy.” Cal always called her Daisy and, like the flower, it was beginning to grow on her. Maybe she would change her name to Skye Daisy Johnson or Daisy Skye Johnson.

“Where is she?”

Cal smiled, “She runs a wonderful place we call Afterlife; it's a safe haven for people from all over.” A safe haven, her mom sounded incredible. “We are going to get in this truck, and they’ll drive us to another truck that will bring us there.”

“Why two trucks?” Skye laughed, “Wouldn’t it be easier to take just one?”

“Well, Afterlife has to be a bit hidden so people can’t come in and hurt us.” That made sense. Skye had booby-trapped her room for the first couple of months with the Coulsons before they showed her they were nice and taught her to breathe in, breathe out.

“You should sleep. It’s been a long flight and we’ll be there before you know it.”

Skye drifted off to sleep to the bumps of the plane, breathing in and out gently.

***

It had been a long flight, followed by a long drive but Cal had told her stories the whole time. Jiaying had been badly hurt by some bad people, and she and Cal had been really sad, then she made Afterlife so no one else could get hurt like that ever again. 

“There are a couple of other kids around your age.”

“Who? What are they like? How close to my age are they? Are they nice?”

“Slow down a bit Daisy. I’ll answer your questions when I answer them. Raina and Lincoln are both very nice. Lincoln is twelve, same as you, and Raina is fourteen. There were a couple of others but Ashela is seventeen now and Gordon is twenty-two and they aren’t really kids.”

“What’s Lincoln like? Will they like me?”

“Stop asking so many questions Daisy, we’re here and you’re about to meet your mom.” They were in front of a large wooden building. It looked like the pictures of a camp Skye had looked at once. “Come on, she’s in here.”

Skye breathed in and out, trying to steady herself.

Her mother was everything she had dreamed of. She looked kind, and she smiled at Skye like the sun. “It’s nice to finally see you.”

Cal rested his hand on Skye’s shoulder, “After all these years she looks just like a mini version of you.” Skye personally thought she looked more like Mel than her mom but maybe it was just one of those things adults knew.

“Hey.” she managed to squeak out. What do you say to your long-lost mother? She’d probably said the wrong thing.

Jiaying pulled her into a tight hug. “We’re glad you’re here finally.”

“Now we’ll keep you forever.” Cal joked, joining the hug. “I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”

Skye smiled even wider somehow.

“Daisy, I’m so glad you’re here, I know you have a lot of questions and we’ll answer them all, but first we need to show you your room and get you all settled so you can rest and we can show you around.”

“Can I see my room?” The pair laughed at their daughter’s excitement.

“Of course Daisy.”

They left the big wooden building and entered the general ground of Afterlife. It was a bustling campground, a bit smaller than a village but not by much. There were around thirty wood buildings, with smaller shacks sprinkled around. Skye could feel the hard-packed dirt under her feet. The whole place seemed big for how many people she’d seen. 

Skye wasn’t focusing on any of those things though, she was staring at the mountains. Big, bigger than anything she’d seen before except maybe when they went into the city full of skyscrapers. The mountains surrounded the little camp. A river cascading down the side of one of them lapped around the place in what was obviously a man-made path. The air was clear, and Skye didn’t care one bit about how dusty everything was because she had her parents and all was right with the world.

Breathe in, breathe out dear one, be sure not to get too overexcited. The mountains are cold and I know I as a narrator am not allowed to tell you these things so I will whisper then into the air, for the mountains are not kind to little girls. Not everything is as it seems dear one. Breathe in, breathe out and be careful.

Cal and Jiaying both held one of their daughter’s shoulders, lovingly making sure she only went where they wanted.

***

Skye plopped her bag down on her bed and got to work unpacking. She had brought a bunch of clothes and books with her. The books were mostly on coding even though she hadn’t brought a computer. She wasn’t any good at coding yet, but maybe in time she would be and she could help other kids find their parents as she’d found hers.

And now she was here with them, really here! Her parents were standing in the doorway as she laid all her stuff out on the bed. They smiled as she sorted them into piles and started helping her put stuff away. Cal grabbed an armful of her clothes she had brought. 

“We’ll have to get you some clothes from here too,” he said, motioning to his and Jiaying’s outfits.“We make and dye them ourselves, don’t you want to be part of the group instead of sticking out with those?”

Skye looked down at the pile of clothes Phil and Mel had bought her, they were the first things that she had gotten that weren’t hand-me-downs, but Cal only wanted what was best and he was her dad so… 

“Yeah,” she said. “I don’t need those.”

“Oh good.” Cal smiled and hugged her again. “This is the best day ever!”

Jiaying grabbed all Skye’s old clothes from him and then the pair rested their hands on her shoulders again and they were off.

Skye breathed in and then breathed out. The air smelled wonderful, crisp, and cool, and full of promise. Then she remembered she was supposed to be listening to her mom talk about Afterlife.

***

“This is the dining area,” Jiaying said, motioning to yet another building. Skye had lost track of what was what at this point, she knew where the building she shared with her parents was and that they were going to the creating room. “Right in here now!” and Skye was ushered into a medium cabin filled with bolts of cloth, threads, and dye.

“You get the same sets as everyone else, no privilege just because we’re related.” Jiaying began pulling down the fabric while yelling for some person named Lee?

Lee turned out to be the person in charge of clothes. Skye was given the set: Two short sleeve shirts, two long, one sweater, one pair of shorts, one pair of pants, and a hat. They were all dyed yellow “for our Daisy.”

“Now let’s get you settled and tomorrow you can meet everyone, I know this must feel rushed but we just want to get you settled.”

Skye fell asleep excited for the prospect of tomorrow, hearing her parents sleep in the room next to hers. Breathing in and out gently.

The next day was drizzly. Skye sat in the dining hall next to Cal while Jiaying sat at the head of the fourth table- there were four long tables, three of them facing the fourth where Jiaying sat in the middle so she could talk to everyone if needed.

“We are delighted to introduce Daisy, our long-lost daughter,” Jiaying announced, looking around the room. “She’s sitting next to my husband,” Cal waved.“She’ll be settling in the next few days so please make her feel at home, thank you. Now let’s eat!”

Cal ladeled oatmeal into Daisy’s bowl and passed her a bowl of fruit. “Take a few and pass it.” She grabbed a few strawberry slices for her oatmeal before passing the bowl to the kid who looked her age.

He had unkempt blond hair and blue eyes that seemed to sparkle with excitement. “Hi, I’m Lincoln but you can call me Spark.”

“Spark?”

“It’s my superhero name! Now that you’re here, I’ll have someone to play superheroes with because Raina just pokes me with thorns, and Ashela is always too busy, and Gordon says he can teleport and then leaves.” Skye laughed at the pleading look on his face, before remembering it was rude to laugh at people. Breathe in, breathe out.

“After learning time will you play super-heroes with me?”

“Yeah!” Skye was glad to have made a friend here. “My name’s Skye though not Daisy, or maybe it is Daisy? I’m not sure, everyone calls me Daisy but I’ve always been Skye.”

“I wasn’t always Lincoln! My parents called me mean names, but here I can be just Lincoln!”

“That’s great!”

The two of them chatted from breakfast to the school building. The building itself was small, only really needing to hold them and Raina. The room was mostly bare except for a blackboard in the front of the room and a handful of desks. Skye sat next to Lincoln.

“So how long do we have school for? What do we learn? Do we have to have science? Can we skip science? What’s the policy for skipping classes?”Skye couldn’t stop the flood of questions once they started coming.

“Well-” was all Lincoln managed to say before he was cut off by the other girl, who Skye presumed was Raina.

“Class four hours a day and then chores around Afterlife, and don’t you go around thinking you’re exempt just because your parents are here.”

“I don-”

“And you can’t skip any classes, all of them teach important life skills.” She paused as she heard footsteps. “Ethan’s coming,  _ I’m _ going to go sit down.”

Ethan turned out to be a grown-up who looked younger than Phil or Mel; he looked like the students that they would sometimes have over for dinner. Phil said that was because they were mentoring them but Skye knew they were just nice people. She couldn’t wait to call them- just three more days!

“Listen up class!” Skye paid attention to Ethan again. “We have languages this morning followed by math, then we’ll go and do chores. Daisy, you’ll be taking placement tests today.” Skye hated taking tests. She sighed as a pile of papers was plopped down on her desk.

She took a deep breath in and then exhaled before looking at it.

***

After Skye had finished all the tests, she was free to read with Lincoln. He showed her the back room filled with books where she was allowed to pick anyone she wanted, she ended up grabbing the BFG- she’d always meant to read it.

Then they went outside, where she learned to milk a cow (badly) and spin thread (badly). Raina hadn’t been joking about everyone having to contribute, but when the time was up she and Lincoln were free to play anywhere within the circle the creek formed around the camp.

“I’m Spark, so you need a cool name and powers!” Lincoln enthused as he showed her his fort. It was a square of rocks but now Skye could see it becoming a castle before her very eyes.

“I’ll be Quake, the fearsome flying earthquake-causer and I can send blasts from my hands and quake  _ anything _ !”

Jiaying and Cal watched the pair play. 

“She’s settling in nicely isn’t she.”

“Yes, yes, she is.”

***

The next few days after that were much the same, Dais-Skye read the BFG. Her dad had convinced her to put the coding books in the classroom library so everyone could share them and they must have been popular because she hadn’t seen them the next day. She was looking forward to the call with Phil and Mel.

Skye woke up the morning of her third day at Afterlife excited, today she would get to call them!

After school, she ran to the office where you could use the phone only to see her mom sitting sadly in front of it. 

“I’m so sorry Daisy, May and Coulson said they can’t call today they have too many other things to do.”

Not call today? But they, they had promised. And she had been sure they would never leave her. Now she was out of their sight and with her  _ real _ parents, they must have decided they didn’t care anymore.

“I don’t care!” She declared, “I never wanted to call those dummies anyway!” Jiaying hugged her tightly.

“It’s okay Daisy. We’ll always be here.” Daisy hugged her mother back. Still for the rest of the day she was in a foul mood, her breaths coming in and out in huffs.

{+++}

If Daisy was in a foul mood then Phil and Melinda were terrified. They had called with Cal for weeks, and he had proved he was who he said he was before they had even talked about letting him visit. Then he took them to court for Skye, and now he had disappeared with her- she had promised to call every three days but it seemed she had forgotten or been stopped. It wasn’t like they could file a missing person case, what with the fact she had left with her birth father, but Phil had a bad taste in his mouth.

“I hope she’s okay.” He whispered after his wife was asleep late one night. “Dear God let her be okay.”

{+++}

Daisy was having the time of her life. It had been three weeks since she had come to Afterlife, two weeks since she had left those  _ traitors _ behind to live with her  _ real _ family. She had learned so much since then, about how to wash clothes, and make food, and build barns. She was enjoying playing with Lincoln too, though a lot of the villains Sparky and Quake faced were named Melonda and Fillip.

Her real parents weren’t going to leave her as  _ they _ had, her parents were with her as often as their duties would allow.

Skye was beginning to feel that antsiness though, the urge to break a rule, to run somewhere, to be free. Breathing in and out wasn’t helping anymore, so she left. Not forever of course just told Lincoln she needed to get something after school and waded across the shallowest part of the river.

The forest was giant, big trees everywhere on the sides of the tall mountains. Skye shivered in her wet clothes against the mountain chill but persisted. She was Quake after all, and nothing could hurt her. She walked farther and further until she could no longer see Afterlife at all, she couldn’t see anything but endless trees.

She was lost.

After another ten minutes of wandering, she gave up and called out as loud as she could “Help?”

The mountains echoed it back, sending a small spray of snow down one side.

“Help!” She called again and this time it wasn’t just the mountain that responded. It was Gordon.

“Daisy, everyone’s been looking for you, you should know better than to leave the camp.” He admonished her as he grabbed her arm roughly. “The woods are dangerous, kids have died out here!”

“I’m not going to die in the stupid woods,” Daisy grumbled, running along to prevent her arm from being pulled out of its socket. They were almost back at Afterlife now “And I jus’ wanted to explore.”

“Well, you won’t be anymore.” That was her mom.

“I’m sorry mom I just wanted-”

“To explore, I heard. Unfortunately, you still broke numerous rules and caused everyone’s day to be disrupted to look for you. Come with me.” Daisy had to walk by everyone to follow her mother to the office, Raina looked triumphant as she passed.

“So falls the golden girl.” She hissed, before moving back into the crowd.

Inside the building, Cal was waiting. 

“Daisy, we’ve been very nice,” Jiaying began.“We’ve let you have a lot more freedom than most new arrivals because we thought we could trust you.”

“Clearly we were wrong,” Cal added angrily.

“I’m sorry,” Daisy started before Jiaying held a finger in front of her mouth.

“No, this is a time to listen to your father and I. You have let us down and embarrassed us in front of the entirety of Afterlife.”

“So we are tomato staking you.”

“Tomato staking?”

“You know when you work in the garden how the tomatoes grow wild and bad if let grow by themselves?” Her mother continued.

“Yeah.”

“But when we put them on the tomato stake, they grow big and perfect.”

“You’re tying me to a tomato pole?”

“No, you are the tomato and we are the poles. You won’t be allowed to go anywhere without us nearby.”

“But that’s not fair! And what about school?”

“It wasn’t fair of you to disobey our rules and leave our home, but you did anyway. For school, Cal will take over teaching the classes as long as you are staked. We hope that it won’t be more than a few weeks before you’re let go to school by yourself again.”

“A few  _ weeks _ ?”

“Yes a few weeks, because we care about you- unlike Coulson and May, I still can’t believe what we found out.”

“What did you find out?” Daisy asked curiously, in spite of herself.

“They had been planning to adopt you right before tax season so that they would get a break before giving you up for a new foster child so they’d keep getting money from the state to steal.”

Daisy had always thought Coulson and May had been in it for her, not for the money. She guessed that was just another lie.

“I don’t like the tomato staking, but I’m glad I’m not with them,” she said with a huff.

“Of course Daisy.”

{+++}

Melinda sank to the ground in the bathroom, today she had gotten a message from Nick telling her another kid needed a home and he thought she would be a perfect fit. How could he say that? How could he just expect them to replace the daughter they had gained and lost? She hoped Skye was doing well and was happy. She hoped the plane hadn’t gone down somewhere never to be heard from again. She hoped Skye was thinking of her, wherever she was.

{+++}

Daisy hated tomato staking. She wasn't allowed to read or play with Lincoln or anything- just do school and chores, and then sit and knit. Any time she pouted about it, it was lengthened. Now though it had been two months and she was allowed to play with Lincoln again!

Sure her dad was watching, but she understood it was necessary. She was safe here now. Breathe in, breathe out. She was so glad her parents had taught her that trick.

{+++}

Phil Coulson was interviewed by the local news about his foster daughter who’d disappeared.  _ Just find her please, _ he’d asked.  _ Just make sure she’s okay _ .

{+++}

It had been almost a year by the time Daisy asked about May and Coulson again, she asked to see what they were up to and because she knew she was out of that nightmare now. She remembered the days she had spent cold and hungry there- she hadn’t even been given proper sets of clothes! Now she was happy and safe though. Mom and Dad loved her, and she was an active member of the community.

Jiaying told her how Raina had seen posters listing her as missing, saying she’d been kidnapped. It was ridiculous seeing as she had gone with her dad, but evil people don’t care about reason.

She hoped to be like Raina someday- Raina got to leave Afterlife sometimes to go into the town and learn as much as she could. She had been sent out because she was trustworthy. Daisy hoped to be trustworthy someday. When Raina came back, she told her news to Jiaying who in turn gave all the news out to people who needed it.

It had been two years when Daisy was called into the office again, for news this time, she braced for the worst.

She hadn’t expected this.

To learn that Coulson and May had taken in three more children before being arrested and thrown in jail.

“Aren’t you so glad we found you, Daisy?” her mom asked, before motioning to the door. “Send Lincoln in now. I have news about his parents.”

The next day when she was playing, Raina cornered her, “We need to talk.”

“What?”

“I have news. I need to be able to trust you not to tell Jiaying, promise you won’t tell her, and I can tell you.”

“But Jiaying should know everything, keeping secrets from her hurts the community.”

“No, you need to promise you can be responsible enough, Skye. You’re fourteen, you’re old enough to know how to keep a secret.”

The name Skye made Daisy pause, “How did you learn that?”

“I’ll tell you if you swear to keep your mouth shut.”

“Fine. Just tell me where you learned that name.” Breathe in, breathe out.

“Well, I’ve been reading up on cults and gaslighting and all sorts of things that boil down to someone lying to you until you believe it.”

“Huh?”

“Jiaying is lying to everyone about their families. You weren’t treated horribly before you came here- you were loved. The people who took you in are still looking for you. This place doesn’t have any books that promote rebellion even and so there's no way you could have known or thought to disobey but-”

“You’re not making any sense Raina.”

“Daisy, listen please; you need to stop trusting Jiaying. She’s bad and lying to you. I can smuggle you and Lincoln out of here and get you to freedom.”

Daisy knew Raina had to be lying. “You’re wrong. Stop saying things like this and leave me alone. My mom is the best person ever- she saved you, Raina. Show a little faith.”  _ Breathe in, breathe out,  _ she thought, storming off.

Raina watched Daisy leave sadly, at least she could get Lincoln out.

{+++}

They knew she was probably gone forever, but they couldn’t just stop looking. The national news had picked the story up the other week and now everyone was searching for a little girl who vanished two years ago. Doctors without borders said Cal had left them over ten years before he picked Skye up. Melinda couldn’t help but feel it was hopeless. She was gone. She knew in his heart Phil agreed.

It was only a matter of time before they had to give up.

The adoption papers they had planned to give her stayed crumpled in the back of the closet.

{+++}

Lincoln didn’t pack a bag when he decided to go with Raina, she promised they would be able to get new things when they were gone. He hadn’t believed her at first but then she had shown him a video of him with his parents and it made him question everything he thought was true.

“It’s just like when you pretended to be sneaking around an enemy base as Sparky,” she had said, before telling him when to go through the window in his room that had lost its panels.

He waited.

Breathe in, breathe out, make sure you seem asleep.

He had started watching for the things she told him it became more clear.

In out, in out.

Now he would be free again.

He hardly remembered life before coming to Afterlife.

_ He had run out of his house at age seven and gotten lost when Gordon found him. _

Or maybe

_ His parents had thrown him out screaming, and Gordon saved him. _

The memories were all still too blurry for him to make sense of.

In out, in out.

Now!

He swung one leg out the window then the other. He took one more deep breath before dropping out, landing as silently as he could.

The moon was a thin sliver in the sky. In out, in out.

He didn’t see Daisy watching him from her window, probably for the best. Even Daisy didn’t know what she was thinking as he crossed the clearing behind the cabins to where Raina was waiting. In out, in out.

She squeezed his hand, and they made their way towards the area of the river that wasn’t watched. In out, in out.

Lincoln swam across first, heading over and then into the treeline until just his hair could be seen. In out, in out.

Raina began making her way too. In out, in out.

Neither of them saw Jiaying watching them too.

In-out, in-out.

Leaving her cabin and moving quickly to the front of Afterlife.

In-out, in-out.

They circled to the front and the road to safety.

_ In-out, in-out. _

They began to run.

_ Free?  _

Jiaying, silhouetted in the thin patch of moonlight now.

_ No! _

She held her hand out.

_ Inout,inout _ .

They stopped.

_ They shouldn’t have. _

“Lincoln you have a choice.”

_ Lincoln runs. _

Jiaying glares after him.

_ Raina runs too. _

Jiaying catches her.

_ Inout, inout _ .

Drags her back to the river.

_ Inoutinout _ .

Pushes her under.

_ Inoutinout _ .

And

_ In _

Time

_ Out _

Stops

_ Gasping  _

And Daisy sees it all.

_____

Amanda Campbell had mourned for her brother, but by the time she was fifteen she had given up on him. She knew it was hard on her parents, but she needed them to stop living in the past and thinking of the son they’d lost, and start focusing on the daughter they still had. 

Needless to say, she was surprised to see a scrawny fourteen-year-old knocking on her door. He had messy blond hair covered in dirt and looked bone tired. 

“The soup kitchen is two blocks over,” she said, pretending like she wasn’t talking from experience.

“Amanda?” The boy asked and all of a sudden she took in his electric blue eyes. “It’s me.”

“Lincoln?” He looked more worn than she remembered him but seven years will do that to a person.

He rushed into her arms and she held him as he sobbed. 

When he was done clinging to her like she would be torn from him again at any moment his head jolted up. “We need to find Daisy and Raina and help them too.” 

_______

Daisy pretended she was sleeping when Jiaying checked on her. She pretended she had never seen Raina pushed under the water. She pretended.

It was enough for her mother.

It was almost enough for her.

***

She spent a week pretending before she got her chance, the front road was watched closely but she was confident she could travel through the woods until she was out of sight. She packed two shirts to make sure she wouldn’t be cold.

_ SkyeDaisySkyeDaisy _ saw her chance and took it, throwing her clothes across the river first, then diving in behind them. When she reached the other side she grabbed her pack and ran. 

The forest was cold and it had rained last night. Daisy hadn’t been out here in years- not since her tomato staking- but she knew the theory.

She’d just need to go over a bit of the mountain. Two days journey. She could do this.

She could not do this.

The snow was cold, and wet, and fell on her, and she didn’t know which way was up.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Breathe in, breathe out.

And then-

It’s quiet.

No breaths disturb the still air.

Far away no one feels a pang that lets them know their child has died, and in time the pair will give up searching and stick to blowing out a birthday candle for Skye every year.

The fire goes out.

The curtain closes.

The lights go up.

The audience leaves.

Goodnight.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this please kudos and comment


End file.
